Someone commented here last week that people can ride the street cars for free through the end of the year. If that is correct, this slide is wrong. The slide says that revenue service was to start in November.

They give the free rides on the busiest days when people would be most willing to pay to be entertained and we make people pay to ride to work. Typical City of El Paso logic. Christmas came early for the bars along the street car route.

And note that there is no key deliverable associated with streets. Hint to city: add bullet point that says complete repaving of xx streets in 2019. That way taxpayers feel better about your priorities. Having no street key deliverable implies that you aren’t being measured on progress in this area.

Suggestions have been ignored by my rep – not to mention the mayor and the city manager. (Exception: while there is still almost no night bus service, the Trolley will run late on Friday and Saturday!) The CM does respond; here’s what you get (surprise, no member of his staff has ever contacted me) “I would like to personally thank you for contacting my office. Your e-mail shows that you have concern for your community and your municipal government. Please note, that my office reviews all concerns from the citizens of El Paso. However, due to the vast number of emails that the City Manager’s Office receives, it is impossible for me to respond to each one personally so my staff may be contacting you on my behalf. If you have an urgent matter that requires immediate attention, please call my office at 915-212-0023 so that someone can assist you. If you have requested a written response, we will make every attempt to reply quickly. Again, thank you for contacting me and I hope you have a beautiful El Paso day!”

And candidates for city rep do read this blog. Unfortunately, they lose to candidates that don’t read it because they only care about the big donors who fund their campaigns. Did Richard Wright really get shut out of the runoff by 15 votes so a less qualified candidate would run against the donor’s choice, Cissy L.? We’ll never know because he was a few hours late in requesting a recount.

Plus they contribute to traffic congestion. Two nights ago I had to go through two light cycles because a Sun Metro bus with one rider blocked an intersection on Mesa where traffic was piled up because of the the no go 10 construction. The buses coming out of the terminal at that intersection will pull into traffic even when they know the light is about to change and it will leave them illegally blocking an intersection. I’ve seen this happen multiple times. Cars in this area are generally smart enough to realize that even if the light is green they should wait and keep the intersection clear if the line of cars in front of them isn’t moving since just piling into the intersection gridlocks traffic in all directions when the light changes. But the Sun Metro buses consider themselves above the law. That particular bus with one passenger blocked 12 cars from turning through their entire light cycle.

That can be true, but after the congestion on Mesa got epic the last four months, most drivers have started showing courtesy around clogged intersections. Sun Metro just uses the law of mass—meaning biggest vehicle has the right of way. Because of the size of buses, they should be better than most at observing the don’t block intersections rule. You can get around a car that sticks out a little, but a bus sitting in the middle of the intersection stops traffic.

Believe it or not, despite our high tax rates? Real estate is still very reasonable in El Paso. We could not possibly hope to sell our little house here for enough money to buy most anywhere else. I did try Costa Rica for three years, but there’s really no place like home. And, yes, I bitch a lot, but that’s my nature.

And believe it or not that is the same situation many El Pasoans at or near retirement are at. While our CAD denominated housing values may have grown, the actual price folks are willing to pay for an older house in El Paso has not appreciated at the level of other areas (and thanks to high property taxes and a low median income that isn’t likely to change). Unless they are willing to live in a slum or take on a mortgage in addition to moving costs most older folks are stuck here.